FO : Cinder Block Socks

So it's been more than a couple years since I've knit my father any socks. He hinted that he wanted another pair of socks 2 years ago. Then I informed him that he doesn't wear the first pair of socks I knitted him, so he's on the no knit sock list. Temporarily. Maybe. Apparently his feet would sweat like mad when he wore them, so he could only wear them outside when it was like -30. I don't find that as an excuse ;-)

Anyways, while checking out new sock yarns I came across Zitron Trekking Pro Natura, It's a mix of 75% superwash wool and 25% unprocessed bamboo. I figured that it would be worth a shot knitting up a pair of socks for my Dad and see if he'll wear these ones. The bamboo should keep his feet a bit cooler than if it were just wool socks. So I pulled out my go to "Manly Sock" pattern, Cinder Block Socks by Anne Hanson. It has an appealing ribbing in the sock that fit perfectly for any man's foot.

So I knitted. The yarn it's self was a bit rougher because of the unprocessed bamboo but it was even and there were no thick and thin sections. Or large pieces of pulp in the yarn, which is a bonus. I was a bit worried that I would have sections with larger chunks of pulp in them but this wasn't the case.

This was NOT a project that I was monogamous on. It lay stagnant from Christmas until April. I'm bad :-( But once I picked it up again to get them done for my Dad's birthday, I motored on them :-)

Overall, I'm quite happy with how they turned out. They didn't soften up too much when I washed them. I was hoping they would bloom or soften up a bit more but I guess they are going to be hard wearing socks. I hope!

The photos are a little washed out. So the color is more a dark teal with hints of forest green in it. I wasn't sure my Dad would like the color since he's a gray kinda guy but he was quite happy with them and they fit perfectly on him.

He even wore them the whole day I was there on Friday :-) Which is completely unheard of. The last pair of socks I knit him, he put them on for about 10 minutes. Then he had to take them off because he was sweating like a mother! I'm happy as long as he wears them :-)

I've already got yarn picked out for my next pair of socks. I'm not sure why I do this to myself BUT I always seem to leave knitting socks for my Mom for Mother's Day to the last minute :-( I blame it on the fact that between the months of April and June I have 3 birthdays and 2 parent holidays which everyone wants socks. You would think that after doing this to myself year after year I would smarten up and plan ahead accordingly. Apparently I'm not that smart...

Soooo.... below is the skein that I'll be using. It's a skein of my Prairie Knitting Yarns Sparkle Sock in an OOAK which is close to Hippie Dippie. The skein was a bit off when I was dyeing it so I decided to keep it :-)

We'll see if I can pull this off before Sunday! Wish me luck :-)

Happy Knitting :-)